Former Wimbledon finalist Andrea Jaeger has revealed that she was sexually harassed several times by a female tennis official.
The 57-year-old Jaeger has told The Independent that she was harassed at least 30 times from the age of 16. Jaeger claimed that when she complained to the Women’s Tennis Association, she was threatened and told not to raise the issue again.
“I had at least 30 incidents with one specific non-playing staff member, physical attempts all in the locker room very, very early in my career,” Jaeger was quoted as saying by reports.
Jaeger said she was served soft drinks spiked with alcohol at a players’ party following the WTA Championships in 1982.
She was then subjected to another physical approach by a different employee who was giving her a lift home, when she was 16.
“Every time I tried to stand up for myself, I was threatened with someone else getting harmed.”
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Jaeger told The Independent that there were many inappropriate relationships within the sport.
The American turned professional at 14 was good enough to be seeded at Wimbledon aged 15.
In 1983 she reached the Wimbledon final but lost against Martina Navratilova.
Having won 10 singles and millions of dollars, she quit the sport, aged 20, due to injuries and is now a nun.
In 2006 Jaeger became Sister Andrea a Dominican nun and member of the Episcopal Church in Santa Rosa Beach Florida, The Sun reports.